Thomas Jefferson neatly summarized the core of the debate on at least one aspect of patentable subject matter, over 200 years ago.
Tag Archive for History
Beauchamp on Founding-Era Patent Revocation
by Josh Landau •
An article from Prof. Chris Beauchamp, newly published in the Vanderbilt Law Review and titled “Repealing Patents”, examines the history of Founding-era patent revocation. It’s a complex story, influenced by the changing character of the pre-1836 patent system, and reveals that there did seem to be a belief in a public interest in the invalidation…
Founders On Patents: Madison On The Dangers Of Patents
by Josh Landau •
James Madison is credited with introducing the Patent and Copyright Clause to the Constitution, and defended that clause in Federalist 43, stating “[t]he utility of this power will scarcely be questioned.” But he was well aware that there were dangers to the power, writing in his own papers that the patent monopoly could produce more…
The PTO’s Inability To Reject An Application For Good Has A Long History
by Josh Landau •
I was recently alerted1 to an entry in John Q. Adams’ diary, pertaining to patents in the early days of the United States. The entry, from Dec. 27, 1804, reads: “Next I called at Dr. [William] Thornton’s Office, acting under the Secretary of State as Commissioner of Patents; to speak with him regarding the application…
Previewing CLS Bank v. Alice
by David Balto •
Tomorrow, February 8, the full Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit (“Federal Circuit”), who receives nearly all patent appeals, will hear oral arguments in CLS Bank v. Alice Corp. This case could be a seminal case for the future of software patents, and so we will be doing a few posts on it. This post…
Recipient of the First Software Patent Comes Out Criticizing the Current System
by Josh Lamel •
In an interesting historical tidbit, last week the Guardian in the United Kingdom published an interview of Martin Goetz. Goetz is the person awarded the first software patent back in 1968. In a prescient bit of headline writing, Computerworld had the following headline on its grant: In the Guardian piece, Goetz comes out hard against…
A History of Abuse
by David Balto •
The U.S. patent system is almost as old as our country. The power to create patents was included in the constitution, and the first Patent Act was enacted in 1790. A lot of opponents of patent reform today argue that the length of the patent system in this country is indicative of its health as…
Progress in a Time of War
by Brian Kahin •
It may be thermonuclear war, but at least it’s out in the open. We have Steve Jobs to thank, not only for his brilliant contributions to technology, but for launching Apple’s thermonuclear war against Android. Already raging in ten countries around the world, this war has made a public spectacle of the subjectivity, uncertainties, and…